You Have to Test More Than Your Basement When Radon Testing in the Home
You probably know that radon causes lung cancer.
And you've probably heard that you're supposed to do all home radon testing in your basement.
While it is true that you should do radon testing in the lowest lived in level of your home, that doesn't necessarily always mean you should only test the basement.
In fact there are some cases when you should never do home radon testing in your basement.
US EPA says, that as a minimum, you should always do radon testing in the "lowest lived in level" of your home.
"Lowest lived in" is usually your basement if it could be used as a living area without any significant renovation.
So an unfinished basement should be tested because children could play down there or an adult might use it for a workshop.
You should NOT do home radon testing in a root cellar or dirt floor basement because most people would not spend much time there.
Radon Testing in the Home is More Than Just Your Basement Another common misconception is that the basement is the ONLY area to do radon testing.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Radon levels vary not only from day to day and season to season, but can vary significantly from one part of the home to another.
Since you probably don't spend 100% of your time in the basement, you need to do radon testing in other areas of your home.
For example, you might spend 6 to 8 hours a day in an upstairs bedroom and maybe less than 1 hour a day in the basement.
Therefore, from a radon exposure standpoint, it's much more important to know the radon gas levels in your bedroom than it is in your basement.
To get an accurate understanding of your health risk, you must radon test all of the "key living areas" in your house in addition to testing your basement.
And you've probably heard that you're supposed to do all home radon testing in your basement.
While it is true that you should do radon testing in the lowest lived in level of your home, that doesn't necessarily always mean you should only test the basement.
In fact there are some cases when you should never do home radon testing in your basement.
US EPA says, that as a minimum, you should always do radon testing in the "lowest lived in level" of your home.
"Lowest lived in" is usually your basement if it could be used as a living area without any significant renovation.
So an unfinished basement should be tested because children could play down there or an adult might use it for a workshop.
You should NOT do home radon testing in a root cellar or dirt floor basement because most people would not spend much time there.
Radon Testing in the Home is More Than Just Your Basement Another common misconception is that the basement is the ONLY area to do radon testing.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Radon levels vary not only from day to day and season to season, but can vary significantly from one part of the home to another.
Since you probably don't spend 100% of your time in the basement, you need to do radon testing in other areas of your home.
For example, you might spend 6 to 8 hours a day in an upstairs bedroom and maybe less than 1 hour a day in the basement.
Therefore, from a radon exposure standpoint, it's much more important to know the radon gas levels in your bedroom than it is in your basement.
To get an accurate understanding of your health risk, you must radon test all of the "key living areas" in your house in addition to testing your basement.